The Gippsland Art Gallery, established in 1965, has recently completed a two-year redevelopment and is launching its first exhibition in the newly designed building on 6 January 2018. ‘Imagine’, curated by Simon Gregg will showcase 134 works by 81 local, national, and international artists tracing 500 years of art making featuring specially commissioned works looking at perspectives of life on earth. Imaginative worlds presented across installation, painting, video, miniature cities, needlework and sculpture will take viewers on a journey through the wonders of the universe. Workshops for children and adults will be running through February until 18 March 2018 with artists Amy Joy Watson, Adam Laerkesen, Claire Pendrigh and Daniel Agda.
Peter Madden, Sleep with Moths II, 2008, mixed media, on loan from a private collection
‘Imagine’ features works commissioned specifically for the exhibition, including a prismatic rainbow arch by Amy Joy Watson and a dreamlike installation of animals by Adam Laerkesen. An award-winning video work by UK-based Norwegian artist Solveig Settemsdal immerses visitors into a strange, in-between space where the universe itself appears to be forming, while a sequence of paintings by German-born American artist Julika Lackner reflects on the shimmering beauty of the earth’s atmosphere.
Other highlights include a hyperreal sculpture by Sam Jinks, a series of needlework star clouds by Claire Pendrigh, miniature cities built of cardboard and plywood by Daniel Agdag and Tricky Walsh, and a skeleton reborn in a veil of flowers by Tanya Dyhin.
Giles Alexander, I’m gonna break right into heaven, I can’t wait anymore, 2015, oil on raw linen, 168 x 152cm. Courtesy the artist, NKN Gallery, Melbourne and Gippsland Art Gallery, Victoria
